2008

As wild as it seemed, the fluctuation of the tally last week in the Franken-Coleman U.S. Senate contest wasn’t your father’s vote roller coaster. Comparing hour-by-hour graphs from the early hours of two tight Minnesota election battles shows how in 1962 the gubernatorial election results toyed with an even tie, while 2008’s senatorial showdown was more a steady descent to a 200-vote gap.

It was way back in 1976 — just as Gerald Ford was leaving office and and waves of Republican scandal still lingered, the Cold War was peaking, KISS was still wearing make-up, and Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive! was released — that Americans felt this dismal about their own situations, according to a recent Gallup [...]

From our sister site, Iowa Independent, their latest power rankings have been released.  This time, their focus is on the Republican presidential candidates.

Rankings and analysis after break

From our sister site in Iowa, the Iowa Independent asks the question:

“If the caucuses were held tonight, what would be the results?”

Results are after the jump, and Republican candidate rankings will be out later this week…

Tonight, the Democratic presidential candidates will be debating GLBT issues during a debate sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and Logo cable network.  Reporters Andy Birkey and Jeff Fecke will be live-blogging the debate, which starts at 8 p.m. Central, at the OutFront Minnesota viewing party at Pi Bar and Restaurant. 

Can’t wait that long to [...]

Were there any winners or losers in tonight’s debate?  I’d be inclined to say the answer to both questions is no.  The debate was formatted in such a way that the participants seldom engaged each other, and there were not enough questions to any individual candidate to hang him or herself. In that respect, Sen. [...]

On February 14th, humorist and Air America radio personality Al Franken made official what political observers have long expected:  he will run for the DFL nomination for U.S. Senate in 2008, hoping to face off against incumbent Republican Norm Coleman.  In the wake of the announcement and, according to reports, several successful events to kick [...]

With Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s announcement that he is officially exploring a run at the White House, it’s a good time to start reviewing the field of contenders on both sides of the aisle and how they will stack up strategically in the 2008 primaries. 

A caveat concerning this analysis: Minor candidates are not included.  As [...]

Former  Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards will be announcing his campaign for President tomorrow from New Orleans.  His candidacy will be launched from the 9th Ward, which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, and will come as little surprise to many, as his campaign website   accidentally opened one day early.

Edwards, who was running with [...]

Editor’s Note: As a continuation of our 2008 Candidate Series, Joe Bodell and Robin Marty will continue debating the strengths and weaknesses of potential challengers to Senator Norm Coleman.  These posts should not be seen of an endorsement of any candidate.  Our previous counterpoints can be found here and here.

Marty: Mike Ciresi is a difficult [...]